Allergies are from the Devil!!!

Ok, I am going to take this opportunity to just say that there is NO way that it can be fair that I live in what is essentially a desert and yet am THIS CLOSE to dying from the allergies that have so unfairly attacked me. I'm not usually a drama queen, but this is not a normal time. Ugggh...I can't breathe, see, stop coughing or think straight.

We won't even go into the fact that my poor child now not only has to deal with being allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy, soy (and possibly beef...good grief!), but he apparently was unable to escape the double-barrelled threat of having not one, but two parents afflicted with this stuff. So, you guessed it, he's sneezing, coughing and requiring 3,000 tissues just like we are! Poor critter.

Ya'll aren't going to believe this, but I'm so desperate at this point that I actually just guzzled luke-warm water with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon mixed in because I read somewhere online that it would help. Ummm....can you say GROSS? But, if it works I'll let you know! Who knows? I tried water with cucumber and lime for my swollen ankles when I was pregnant after reading about it online and that worked so maybe I'll get lucky again!:-)

Anybody have any other remedies that have worked? By all means...let me know! I have fantastic timing and have agreed to help my old office out 10 hours a week for the next month or two and I'm pretty sure they expect me to have some sort of cognitive functioning. Needless to say, that is an unrealized hope at the moment.

Just to leave you with something not quite so pathetic, here is a picture of the world's MOST patient cat. Sweet Nala actually stayed by my side all night even once my incessant coughing had driven my poor husband to the basement to sleep! Such a good kitty:-)

Cycles......

I have found myself thinking about cycles this week and how often we are in the midst of them sometimes without even realizing it.


Case in point, for the longest time, I've been setting the coffee maker to come on at 6:00 am. The reason for this is that Rusty wakes up between 6-6:15 each morning and knowing that there is fresh, hot coffee waiting at the bottom of just one measly flight of stairs has been very beneficial to my mental health.


mmmm...coffee

Until this past Tuesday.


My husband, who I have deemed "Genius of the World" (no sarcasm intended!), got up a little bit earlier than usual for work. He noticed that the schnitz slept soundly while he was shaving and brushing his teeth, but he woke up almost immediately after the coffee maker gave off its 3 shrill "beeeeeps" announcing that it had finished its coffee-brewing duties. Who knew those beeps actually made that much noise?? So we decided to experiment on Wednesday and only turn the coffee on once we made it downstairs. Result...my child is now sleeping until 8 or 8:30 in the morning!!!!!! (Does anyone else hear strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" playing????)


No wonder he'd had trouble transitioning to just one afternoon nap....I had inadvertently been waking him up 2-2 1/2 hours early!


Lesson: no coffee beeps at 6:00....child sleeps until 8:00...cycle broken!


And so on to another cycle I've been reading about that I thought ya'll would find interesting. I know I've never really thought about it in this way.


I've been attending a women's bible study at my church since last fall. This semester we studied the book of Ephesians which, as you know, includes instructions for husbands/wives in the sixth chapter.

In a nutshell: husbands love unconditionally, wives respect unconditionally.

As we talked about this particular portion of the chapter, what we focused on a great deal is that while everyone KNOWS that love should be unconditional in marriage (and even implying otherwise would cause some serious issues) our culture is skewed dramatically to the idea that respect must be earned. Hmmmm....

At the same time that I was working on the study lesson for Eph. 6, I also finished a novel I'd been reading and picked up a book that my in-laws gave us last Christmas called "Cracking the Communication Code: The Secret to Speaking Your Mate's Language" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. Oddly enough, his take on the marital relationship is basically taken directly from that same passage in Ephesians. He explains that men and women have inherently different needs for love and respect and this creates a cyclical relationship. Basically, when each need is met it creates a motivation to meet the other.

As he puts it, "His love motivates her respect->Her respect motivates his love".

Now that just makes sense to me. Then he went on to the part I'd found a bit more convicting in bible study. We are commanded by God to do these things whether our mate is doing his/her part at the time or not. We are to do so out of our love and obedience to Him and He blesses us for this obedience.

"His love blesses regardless of her respect->Her respect blesses regardless of his love".

Finally, here's the part that I think it is so easy to forget especially when I'm tired or just cranky in general. He states that we need to remember to see each other as goodwilled persons. We need to trust that even if things are said/done that are annoying or even hurtful, our spouse generally speaking, intends to do us good. I loved how he summed up this idea,

"When the tension rises...we need to remember when we first met and fell in love. We did not say, 'I hate you and you hate me, so let's get married.' The same person each of us met and married is still there, even though, at that moment, it doesn't seem that way."

I am so very fortunate to be married to my best friend in the entire world. He is a fantastic husband and father and truly a great guy. I am thankful for the reminders that God provides to always treat both my husband and our relationship as the amazing gifts that they are!

Obsessions del Shnitz

Ok, I don't know about the rest of you, but pre-motherhood, I assumed that toy stores were full of toys because that is what children wanted to play with. No one told me that kids are actually incredibly random in terms of what they find interesting and that it is RARELY what I as an adult would think they'd like! Now....it is also entirely possible that my perception has been skewed by having a sample size of only one. I do remember learning in my research classes that results should not be based on such. So, I will state for the record that I recongize the possibility that my child may just be a little "unique":-)

That being said, here are the objects that the schnitz has found to be entirely captivating over the past week, month and some of them even the past year. If you have a child or children that have developed similar fascinations, by all means share and set my mind at ease!:-)

The Musically Talented Lion

First on the list, we have an actual toy. Woohoo! This is a more recent obsession, but has certainly been an entertaining one. This lion has a button on his paw that, when pushed, starts a recording of "In the Jungle". Much like Ross' monkey Marcel on "Friends" the schnitz has taken to playing this song over and over and over and over......you get the point. The really entertaining part is that he will pick up the lion, put it on whatever surface he deems appropriate, hit the paw and then back up and start dancing and snapping his fingers. Should I ever manage to actually get this performance on tape, rest assured that I will post it here for the sheer entertainment value! I made the mistake the other night of letting him take the lion to bed with him and was awakened the next morning at 6 by the sounds of "a-weem-ba-wep, a-weem-ba-wep" coming through the monitor. Now THAT was an interesting way to wake up!

The Phone

This was perhaps the first of the obsessions. I'm afraid that I'm just the tiniest bit responsible for this one. I can remember driving back from Dallas after Christmas when he was about 6 months old and the only thing that stopped him from screaming as we were heading into Amarillo for the night was repeatedly flipping open my cell phone. Apparently, that was his "gateway experience". Since that time he has been of the opinion that all phones exist to be enjoyed by the schnitz. This ranges from all cell phones to hotel phones (that are immediately unplugged upon entry due to our desire to avoid racking up bills equivalent to the national debt) to a payphone located all the way in the back of a convenience station when we stopped for gas. This child has more phones, play and otherwise, than a person could ever possibly need. And if a phone isn't immediately available, things like high chair straps and remote controls are held up to the ear and used for the same purpose. I finally got smart and started locking the keys on my phone after I realized in the middle of a mom's group meeting that he had called my sister!

There are times that he really makes me wonder exactly who he's talking to and what kind of business he's conducting on these phones. A while back I watched for about 10 minutes while he would alternate between picking up the phone, letting out a stream of "blah, blah, blah", placing it on the coffee table, walking to the fireplace hearth to sit for about 30 seconds and then back to pick up the phone. He did this probably 12 times until the last time he was "on the phone" he ended it with "k bye", put it down and walked off into the kitchen. Apparently the discussion was over!:-)

Kitchen Appliances

Now, I will preface this by saying that while I would really like to think that this particular obsession is an indication that my child will one day be a famous chef (or a least a TOTAL catch of a husband), I hesitate to put all of my eggs in this basket since he shares an equal obsession for vacuums and brooms (as will be demonstrated momentarily). So, chef or janitor, who's to say?? I have found myself actively regretting that I replace the metal pantry doors (well, not entirely, as they were very ugly and loud) with curtains because curtains are a very inadequate barrier to a persistent toddler. On any given day, the request (doesn't that sound so much nicer than "demand"?) is made for my mixer, crockpot, rice cooker, blender, the list goes on. A person walking into my house would be at an absolute loss to figure out what kind of crazy people live in a house where every appliance in the pantry is strewn about their living room. I mean really, what could POSSIBLY explain such a situation (please read with the heavy sarcasm intended here;-)? His latest trick is to set up the cup to the shake maker and put the ONE remaining beater to my hand mixer (I'm sure the other beater will be found when we move one day) into the cup. He then walks around the living room/dining room making "mixer" sounds that get louder the further away he gets from his contraption. The only thing we can figure is that he feels the mixer needs to be able to hear him to remember its job. I sit and ponder whether or not we could find a quieter mixer:-) And finally the second picture is what I walked in on a month or so ago when he decided that the crockpot was his appliance of choice.

Vacuum...le piece de resistance!

And finally we come to the obsession object that is looked for almost immediately upon awakening each day and that allows us to make a graceful exit when dropping him off at the church nursery. We have NO idea where this particular one came from and it applies to both real and toy vacuums. I purchased the above toy with the (unrealized) hopes and dreams that he would like it so much that he would shun the REAL vacuum cleaner and I would no longer have that particular obstacle in the middle of my living room floor each day. No such luck. However, it serves a purpose for now as all we have to do is point out the vacuum in the nursery and we become absolutely unneccesary. And my hope is that if I can JUST allow this vacuum fascination to go on for a few more years, I may be able to parcel out a certain household chore! Ok, ok, stop the collective laughter. A person has to cling to a certain amount of optimism! To support this minimal level of optimism, I leave you with the following video. His grasp on the appropriate use of the vacuum may be minimal, but at least it's a start!:-)

Songs and memories

I read a friend's post the other day about how young she was when she began to recognize her love of this country and the things that influenced her personal politics. I too have a great love for this country and some pretty definite personal politics which got me to thinking about the first clear memory I have related to this topic.

I found this video of the opening ceremony for the Pope's speech at the White House earlier this week. It's of the Army Choir singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and I think it is fantastic (disclaimer: I have been informed that this is not a popular song with those from the south, but my purpose of this post is not a north/south debate...promise:-) I have the most distinct memory of being not more than five or six, standing on a pew in my grandparents' church in Gering, Nebraska singing this song while standing next to my Uncle Les, dressed in his Marine dress blues. Even at that young age, I felt an incredible amount of pride to be a part of this country and to have my beloved uncle (you would love him too...he's awesome:-) be such an integral part of defending it. That same emotion gets stirred and honestly brings tears to my eyes every time I hear this song. It is a powerful reminder of how incredibly lucky we all are to live here. No matter what is going on politically, economically or otherwise, there is NOWHERE in the world I would rather be.



I only hope that as Rusty gets older, Brad and I are successful in teaching him what a truly great nation we live in, how very blessed we are to do so, and to be truly appreciative of all those who continue to defend it with their lives.

Pinky's Meme

Pinky from Cheese in My Shoe tagged me with this meme.

The Rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can
track it as travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

A cheerful heart is good medicine

I tag Janice, Amanda, Andi, Elisa, and Laura.

Have fun!

Karrie

Hope Springs Eternal!

So, after the dismal weather showing of last week consisting of grey skies, cold temps and 8 inches of snow on Thursday, we finally got a break yesterday! I now have at least a glimmer of hope that Colorado will in fact indulge in spring and maybe even summer this year!

In celebration of this change in the weather, we went on a hike after church to an area called Castlewood Canyon with our friends Chuck and Ivilina. It's a beautiful spot and only about a 20-25 minute drive straight south from our house. Needless to say, it's one of our favorite spots.

Rusty loved the hike! There were dogs of every size and shape all along the trail and so we were treated with a continous stream of "dog" and "woof woof" as well as a lot of smiles. He was also fascinated with the boulders. I can't say as I blame him. I think they're pretty cool too!:-)

We had a great time and decided that we definitely need to take advantage of the scenery we're surrounded by here in Colorado by going on a lot more hikes this summer. We're also planning on another caming trip to Sylvan Lake. It's located about 20 or 30 minutes west of Vail (about a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house) and is one of the prettiest spots I've ever seen! We went over Labor Day weekend last year and loved it. The only downside is that by that time of year it got REALLY cold at night! So, this next trip will probably take place closer to the middle of summer and less likely to lead to potential hypothermia:-)

Here's a few pictures from last year's trip. Isn't it gorgeous??

Ahhh.....Colorado in the summer is much more up my alley than winter, can you tell? Kind of makes you want to come visit and go camping with us, now doesn't it?:-)

Random tidbits from the last few days

Just to give a bit of insight into the interesting goings-on around our house...

Last week, Brad took Louie and Nala to the vet for their annual visit. Upon returning home he left the cat carrier in the front hallway. Mere moments later, we walk into the front hallway to see this:

I was a little bit concerned that someone might come over and think that we considered this an appropriate "time-out" spot! He's actually done this a number of times since then, so apparently the allure is strong. At one point while he was in the carrier, Louie walked over and just looked in as though he couldn't quite figure out how this situation made any sense at all! I had to laugh a few mornings later as I watched him crawl in with his toy vacuum in tow; I guess he decided it was time to tidy up?

And speaking of vacuums....this is one of his all-time obsessions. (Not that I anticipate this particular obsession will last long enough to be helpful in keeping house.) Three days ago I bought a new mop since a good portion of our house is now either tile or laminate. I haven't actually gotten to use it yet because the schnitz has decided it's the best thing since sliced bread and plays with it for HOURS on end. He even took a nap with the top portion because he wouldn't relinquish it and I'm a loyal member of the "pick your battles" club:-) Here's a sample of his sublime happiness with this newest gadget:

In the meantime, the cats have chosen a new "favorite napping spot". This is an ongoing project as I've been trying to get the back of our basement organized and with each bit of progress for me, another of their niches disappears. I'm hoping that this chosen spot doesn't mean that they want to be shipped out because they're tired of living with us and their new human who continues to insist on giving them hugs!

And finally, while in my mind it is only appropriate that spring in April should look like this:This is what we were ACTUALLY looking at all day yesterday:

My prayer is simply that "real" spring will show up soon:-)

Making a start....

Ok, so after many, many months of enjoying the blog postings of almost everyone I know and simultaneously feeling REALLY guilty about my deficiencies in keeping in touch with many of those same people, I have decided to jump into the world of blogging myself.

I will offer a caveat in advance. I am not the world's best at these sort of endeavors. Case in point, my poor child's photo album is completely empty (although the computer has hundreds of pics just waiting to actually be printed) and his baby book is only partially filled out. Heaven help any other kiddos we have! They'll be able to join the CIA and with no fear of anyone learning about their past:-)

A note about the title of this blog. My husband and I got married in September of 2002. At the time, he lived in Colorado and I lived in Texas. Due to the fact that we are not celebrities, a commuter marriage was out of the question and I moved to Colorado. Four months later, we bought our house and decided that it would be incomplete without a kitty cat and promptly started our search. We found our new family members at a shelter in NW Denver. They were about 7 months old at the time, a brother and sister from the same litter. Although the shelter had named them Ricky and Lucy, we renamed them Louie and Nala. Louie after King Louie of "Jungle Book" fame because we are convinced that he too actually wants to be a human (with the schedule of a cat, of course!). Nala's name came from "The Lion King" after we watched the scene where she thoroughly trounced Simba. While Nala is still literally half of her brother's weight, she can take him down in a heartbeat and seems to have periodic urges to "thin the herd" just a bit!

Moving on, we have discovered in the past 5 years that orange cats must have some gene that makes them, well, unique. They are completely crazy and have provided us with entertainment that we've always said was better than cable! However, we have also discovered that Louie is basically a perpetual toddler with all of the behaviors that go along with that, thus managing to babyproof our house FAR in advance of Rusty's arrival by breaking everything of monetary or sentimental value. He doesn't listen when you tell him no and even found our attempts at "disciplining" him with a water bottle to be "one of the best games, ever!!". Nala is almost a polar opposite. She follows the same schedule every day, absolutely HATES to even be scolded, and is the most graceful cat you've ever seen. I'd be willing to put money on her in a china shop while Louie would rack up a LARGE credit card balance in a matter of minutes!

Needless to say, when we found out we were expecting our first child, I started praying that God would give us a child with Nala's personality and not Louie's!! What I got was a kiddo with Nala's willingness to follow a schedule, but a much greater interest in Louie's method of exploring the world. Heaven help us all:-)

As to the "schnitz" moniker....while I was pregnant, my husband, who is quite the creative one, started calling the baby "schnitzel" and I'm afraid that it has stuck. As time has gone by, it has morphed into a more regular "shnitz" when addressing him directly or "the schnitz" when he's being talked about. My mother has expressed regular concern that he is going to be unable to recognize his actual name and may be mocked by others in the future for this. Don't worry, we took her concerns seriously and are in the process of setting up a therapy fund for him:-)

Although, I wondered what it would be like when I left the world of pharmaceutical research to be a stay at home mom, thanks to the three of them, my days are actually filled with a pretty regular stream of entertainment which I will hopefully be faithful at sharing with all of you!

Thanks for taking a look at my first attempt and I promise to do my very best to make it worth your while to come back!